Published: Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 5:53 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 5:53 p.m.

Area residents hailed Bruce Cameron on Thursday as a trailblazer and philanthropist who changed the face of Wilmington.

Cameron, a developer and financier, died Wednesday at the age of 95.

Funeral services are planned for 2 p.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church, 125 S. Third St., with burial to follow in Oakdale Cemetery.

“He was a giant in the community,” said Connie Majure-Rhett, president of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. “He did so much for it.”

“He was a great Wilmingtonian,” said Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo. “He loved his city, his community and his region. He and his entire family have done so much for this community. You can see it just driving around: the Cameron School of Business at UNCW, the Betty Cameron women's and children's clinic, the Louise Cameron Art Museum.”

Cameron Hall at the University of North Carolina Wilmington was named for Cameron and his brother, Dan, and the Cameron School of Business honors the family. A longtime trustee of New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Cameron and his family donated land for the hospital's urgent care center. The Cameron Area Health Education Center was named for Cameron, his brother and their parents.

In 1994, Bruce and Dan Cameron donated land worth $2 million to Lower Cape Fear Hospice. Cameron's donations also aided area churches and the Brigade Boys and Girls Clubs.

Cameron and his Bruce B. Cameron Foundation strongly supported the former St. John's Museum of Art. It was renamed the Cameron Art Museum in 2002 in honor of Cameron's wife, Louise Wells Cameron, who died in 1997.

Anne Brennan, executive director of the Cameron Museum, hailed Cameron as of the Wilmington's most generous philanthropists in the city's entire history.

Cameron and his family donated land for the museum's new campus and 40,000-square-foot building on S. 17th Street and also donated $4.5 million toward the museum's capital campaign. Brennan said she sees the gifts as a gesture of love toward his wife.

“Anyone who passes through these doors can feel the strength this tribute and its profound inspiration to the community,” Brennan said.

Dean Larry Clark of the Cameron School of Business said Bruce and Dan Cameron's contributions to the university had helped provide generations of future business leaders for the region.

Clark remembered the last time Cameron had attended Business Week activities on campus.

“Mr. Bruce, as we called, him, drew such enjoyment from it,” Clark said. “He sat there, talking with students, with a big smile, and his eyes had such a twinkle.”

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to Cameron Art Museum, to Virginia Military Institute (Cameron's alma mater) or to Lower Cape Fear Hospice and LifeCare Center.